High school graduation seems like it was yesterday. From tassel flipping to cap tossing culminating what seemed to be the longest 4 years of your life. Now on to living life abundantly with your best friends all summer long. Staying up all night curfew free. It’s 2am on a Tuesday night and your Fortnight squad is dominating. No parents asking if you’re done with your homework, no alarm clock to worry about waking you up at 6:15am, not a care in the world. Life couldn’t be any sweeter. Then it hits you… reality sets in. You realize that your first day of college is right around the corner and suddenly a feeling of terror slowly takes over your body. You feel yourself going numb from your toes and slowly climbing up your entire being. It’s almost as if you are paralyzed just at the thought of how your first semester will go. Am I even smart enough for college? What if I hate my roommate? What should I wear? Am I going to make friends? And the list goes on.

News Flash

You’re not alone. There are hundreds of other first year students at University of Houston that share the very same fear. In fact, there are students at home right now thinking of an excuse to tell mom and dad so they can play hooky on the first day of school. We all have been there, I promise. However, what that fear fails to tell you is some of our most blissful moments are found on the other side of terror.

The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist. – Will Smith

Some of the best moments in your life await you the moment you step foot in Houston. Yes, you’re coming into a new environment around people you have never seen before in your life. But don’t think of it as the first day of school, think of it as the first day of the rest of your life. Just make sure you live your best life. Your best memories are waiting for you to make them and just in case you need help preparing, here are a few tips to help you conquer some of the most common fears freshman face their first year.